In Conclusion...

The press has made a great deal this summer about Stephanie Meyer being the next J.K. Rowling. The number of books sold and amount of money made, I believe, was the focus of journalists' interest.

I think these two authors are similar in other ways. They're both women who, according to press accounts, come from outside the literary establishment. They are not graduates of fine arts programs in writing. They haven't spent years attending writers' conferences and workshops. In short, they came out of nowhere with stories people wanted to read.

Keep in mind that there are thousands of people who think they've come up with stories others will want to read. Either they don't have the native skill to write them coherently, or they're just plain wrong. So Meyer's and Rowling's connection with readers is a major achievement. It doesn't matter what they write in the future.

I enjoy this outsider, maverick pattern, which is probably why I kept reading these books, even when I had complaints about them. I'm kind of psyched to see how long we have to wait for another Meyer or Rowling to come along.